Interviews

Judge Thomas Amodeo has been chief judge of the Buffalo City Court since 1994. He spoke with Center for Court Innovation staff about the C.O.U.R.T.S. (Court Outreach Unit: Referral and Treatment Services) program, which screens and refers defendants to treatment and other services.

Articles

For courts with limited resources that are interested in problem-solving, Buffalo (N.Y.) City Court offers an intriguing model. With no extra funds, in 1995 the court began to identify defendants’ social problems and link them to needed services. Today, Buffalo’s innovative C.O.U.R.T.S. (Court Outreach Unit: Referral and Treatment Services) program links together more than 130 community-based providers and makes more than 6,000 referrals a year.

Interviews

Judge Douglas Van Dyk is a Circuit Court Judge in Clackamas County, Oregon, and presides over the Overland Park Community Court, one of 10 sites to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice under its Community-Based Problem-Solving Criminal Justice Initiative. Here he speaks about the court and how it works.

Publications

This 14-week law school course analyzes the benefits and challenges of problem-solving justice. In addition to looking at the history and constitutional issues surrounding this topic, the course includes visits to traditional and problem-solving courts.

Publications

A discussion of the lessons learned in going to scale with innovations in education and other fields, and what these lessons imply for state judiciaries as they seek to go to scale with problem-solving justice.

Publications

An overview of the Red Hook Community Justice Center and the lessons learned from the Justice Center's efforts at neighborhood engagement. Published in The Justice System Journal, Volume 26, No. 1 (2005)

Publications

A brief article highlighting major findings and lessons concerning the potential to apply problem-solving practices in a more in-depth way throughout the courts. Longer versions of this research are available in other publications. Published in Judicature, Volume 89, No. 1 (2005).

Interviews

On Oct. 18, 2004, a five-person panel—which included, in an unprecedented move, two representatives of the community—selected Judge David Fletcher to preside over the North Liverpool Community Justice Centre, England’s effort to replicate the Red Hook Community Justice Center. Judge Fletcher spoke about how things had progressed.

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